Psychological Assessment - correct answer -Process of using psychological tests, clinical interviews, behavioral observations, and other assessment tools
... [Show More] to gather data on an individual's cognitive, social, and behavioral functioning for the purpose of description, classification, prediction, and intervention
Examiner Qualifications - correct answer -Level A: may be administered and interpreted by a non-psychologist
-Level B: require some technical knowledge of test construction and use, as well as completion of supporting educational and psychological subjects
-Level C: should be administered only by individuals with at least an MA in psychology and at least one year of supervised experience under a psychologist
Reliability vs Validity - correct answer -Reliability: degree to which test scores are free from the effects of measurement error
Validity: degree to which a test measures what it was designed to measure
Standardization - correct answer -The examinee's responses, the apparatus, and the scoring have been fixed so the scores collected at different times and places are fully comparable; any deviations from standardized administration and scoring may result in invalid conclusions
-The test has been administered under standard conditions to a representative sample for the purpose of establishing norms; the greater the discrepancy between the examinee and the norm group, the less likely the test results will be valid
Types of Scoring - correct answer -Norm-Referenced: comparison between an examinee's scores and the scores of the norm group; percentile ranks, standard scores
-Criterion-Referenced: domain or content referenced; scores based on what the examinee can do or knows with regard to clearly defined content; percent correct
-Self-Referenced: ipsative; intra-individual comparison of scores; relative strengths or weaknesses
Behavioral Assessment - correct answer -Focuses on overt and covert behaviors that occur in specific circumstances
-May utilize behavioral interviews, observation, cognitive assessment, or psychophysiological measures
-Functional behavioral assessment (FBA): determines the purpose of a behavior by identifying antecedents and consequences
Dynamic Assessment - correct answer -Interactive approach and deliberate deviation from standardized procedures to obtain additional information about the examinee
-Associated with educational assessment
-Testing the limits: involves providing examinees with additional cues, suggestions, or feedback; ordinarily done after standardized administration
-Graduated prompting: giving the examinee a series of verbal prompts that are graduated in terms of difficulty level
-Test-teach-retest: following the initial assessment with an intervention designed to modify the examinee's performance, then re-assessing
Computer-Assisted Assessment - correct answer -Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT): computer tailors the test to an individual examinee by choosing subsequent items based on previous answers
-Increases precision and efficacy, as all examinees are tested with the same degree of reliability and reduced testing time
-Computer-based interpretations should not be used to replaced clinical judgement
Actuarial vs Clinical Predictions - correct answer -Actuarial: statistical; based on empirically validated relationship between test results and specific criteria
-Clinical: based on the decision-maker's intuition, experience, and knowledge; clinical judgement
-Research has found that actuarial method alone is more accurate than clinical judgement alone
Assessing Children - correct answer -Interviews can be used to obtain reliable and valid data from children as young as 6
-Goals include establishing rapport and maintaining the child's cooperation, and can be accomplished by using descriptive statements, reflections, and open-ended questions; providing labeled praise; and avoiding critical statements and leading questions [Show Less]